has anyone tried PS Audio perfect wave duo

Almarg,

The larger cache may be needed to handle the higher res formats that this device is advertised to handle.

I think that would be the main purpose.

I can see this as an effective though pricey out of the box solution for those seeking the bleeding edge of current digital formats.

Personally I will stick to the music server approach but I can understand if many are not comfortable mixing computers with their audio on their own.

Hi Mapman -- My main point was that it is misleading to claim that other transports output data directly from the optical read mechanism, and that other transports are therefore subject to the timing variations which inevitably occur as data is read from the disk which is spinning at a varying, motor-controlled rate.

But re the larger cache, all that is necessary is to have a cache which is large enough to not become emptied under conditions of worst case variation of the rate at which data is read from the disk. A few seconds worth of cache should be way more than enough to accomplish that for any audio format, for any reasonably well performing read mechanism.

Best regards,
-- Al

AL,

Yes, it would make little sense to output time sensitive data directly from an optical read device. I've always assumed that most or all devices do not do this but was not sure.

Usually if a cache is not big enough, a clear audible dropout will occur I believe and not a subtle change in sound.

I would expect the same to occur but much more frequently if bits were read direct from a relatively slow and more error prone optical device and that seldom seems to occur with most properly operating readers.

Does that sound right?

Hi Mapman,

Yes, if the cache were not large enough to support the timing variations of the read mechanism, clear audible dropouts would occur.

If the optically-read data were conveyed to a dac, or to the internal dac of a cdp (transport plus dac in one unit) without any memory cache in between, I would expect the result to be a total mess combining dropouts with various distortions associated with the timing variations.

Best regards,
-- Al

Al and Mapman,

What the Perfect Wave Disc player does is read data off the disk like a computer - not a CD player. That is, will re-read sectors if there is an error until it gets it right rather than a one-pass stream that a CD player does. It essentially achieves the benefit of a file based transport with a disc based one and assures that the data is always perfect. Also, it can do pretty much any format including file based formats on DVD (which is how many of the new high res formats are being distributed).

Combined, the main benefit of the two pieces is all about avoiding the hallmark problem areas of typical disc players and DACs. By "ripping" the data like a computer, the disc player gets the data correct to begin with. By keeping it in I2S format all the way to the DAC chip, it keeps it perfect. No error correction, no jitter, no re-clocking of digital stream data, no latency problems. Basically, what we have been spending thousands on for Pace Cars and re-clocker mods and such is no longer necessary.

Everything I've seen and heard thus far tells me it's pretty much the best "technology" out there. The real question I think is whether you like the sonic quality of the DAC or not. It would be nice if a standardized I2S interface could emerge for transport devices and DACs so we can replace the error prone SPDif, Toslink, and USB ones. The clever use of the HDMI hardware might just be the ticket.